That Friday seemed like every other July day and not at all like an end to anything. Great puffs of white cloud drifted innocently across the hazy summit of Mt. Washington, the afternoon was drowsy with the song of insects and the smell of pines. A breeze, fresh and clean from the wooded slopes of New Hampshire’s Presidential Range, brought a pleasant touch of coolness. It was a day to enjoy and there was no hint of trouble in it.

Sue paused halfway up the back-porch steps and turned, a slender figure in white slacks and green blouse. Her copper-red hair was brushed softly back from a vivid face which refused to tan regardless of sun and wind, and her brown eyes were quiet with contentment. She smiled, half in tenderness, half in amusement, as she looked back.

Her five-year-old twins, Johnny and Jerry, with Maxl the dachshund, were entangled in a wriggling heap on the lawn. Her daughter Tabitha, aged seven, was swinging under the big maple, dark pigtails flying as she swooped. From the tool shed came a bass rumble slightly off key — the voice of Sue’s husband, Dr. William Barry, humming Old Man River while he collected his fishing kit. Indoors and somewhat muffled by distance Sue heard a gurgle followed by a prolonged squeak and she laughed. The baby was awake.

The late afternoon sunlight spilled down through the maples, touching into brilliance the red heads of the tumbling little boys, and dappling Tabitha’s happy face.

At twenty-three, Sue Barton was a high-spirited and courageous young nurse with a temper that matched her red hair. She had graduated from a great metropolitan hospital, served with distinction in the Henry Street Settlement in New York, and incidentally she had fallen in love with Dr. Bill Barry, whom she had first known as an interne [sic].

Sue loved her work in the wards, the discipline and efficiency of the operating room and the friendships she had won among her patients. When Dr. Bill first proposed, Sue felt that she could not give up her professional life. But Bill was persistent and at last she decided to marry him and to help him with his country practice.

But the marriage has to be postponed, Bill becomes an object of hostility, a typhoid epidemic which he cannot control threatens his reputation, and Sue suddenly finds herself fighting tooth and nail with all the courage and training at her command to save the man she loves. Here is a story of the nursing career, with the excitement, the laughter, and the authenticity which have distinguished the earlier Sue Barton books.

Redheaded Sue Barton left her position as Superintendent of Nurses at the Springdale, New Hampshire, Hospital, in order to raise a family. Now she and Dr. Bill have three children: six-year-old Tabitha and the four-year-old twins, Johnny and Jerry. Sue is happy in her job as wife and mother until she goes to a reunion of her class in nursing school, where the accomplishments of others make her feel as if she is “stagnating.”

This Sue Barton story tells how Sue discovered the importance of her own job. She nurses the neighborhood; she finds work for a crippled farmer; she pinch-hits for the visiting nurse; she helps bring the artist Mona Stuart and her teen-age daughter Cal together. And always something is happening at home for Sue and Bill and their faithful Veazie Ann to cope with — Jerry’s strange tantrums, Johnny’s disappearance in the woods with his little friend Anne, Tabitha’s attempt to run away. Are Sue’s training and abilities wasted on all these daily and personal small problems? Her customary humor and warm good sense help her decide.

Jennifer Hanover thought she was the luckiest nurse at General Hospital, for she had won the heart of attractive, dedicated Dr. Larry Johnson. But then her scheming twin sister, Kristi, ruined Jen’s vacation and turned her life inside out — all with one urgent phone call. Overnight Jen was forced to masquerade as Kristi, a nurse at a trailer-park clinic.

Jen lived in her sister’s home, treated her sister’s patients, and fell under the spell of her sister’s ruggedly handsome boss, Ash Hunter. And to top it off, she found herself mothering a slew of trailer park waifs.

Living a double life was difficult enough for Jen. Even more difficult was choosing the one right man to share her life with forever.

Being studio nurse meant for golden-haired Lori Todd sharing all the excitement of Hollywood picture-making, as well as taking care of Producer Mike Lancaster’s ulcer. Mike’s worry was the picture that would never be finished…

Lori had two worries. Handsome Mace Hunter, test pilot for Pacific Aircraft, who persisted in risking his life daily for the sheer adventure of it…and naval lieutenant Dirk Patou. The future that Dirk offered Lori was both stable and secure, and in his white uniform Dirk was every bit as handsome as the test pilot who simply would not listen to reason…